Edo

Willes v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.

Good Law
512 F.3d 565·2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 335
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitJanuary 9, 200804-35279California370 words

Opinion

Opinion

This appeal comes before us on remand from the Supreme Court. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Willes , — U.S. —, 127 S.Ct. 2933 , 168 L.Ed.2d 259 (2007) (citing Safeco Ins. Co. of Am. v. Burr, — U.S. —, 127 S.Ct. 2201 , 167 L.Ed.2d 1045 (2007)). In Burr , the Court affirmed our holding in Reynolds v. Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., 435 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir.2006), that liability under 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a) for “willfully failing] to comply” with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) includes reckless disregard of statutory duties. Burr, 127 S.Ct. at 2208 . The Court also agreed with our holding that quoting or charging a first-time premium can be “an increase in any charge for ... any insurance, existing or applied for.” Id. at 2210 (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(k)(l)(B)(i)). In addition, the Court held that notice is required only when consideration of a consumer’s credit report is a necessary condition for the increased rate. Id. at 2212 (citing 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a)). Finally, reversing our holding, the Court held that the baseline for determining whether a first-time rate is a disadvantageous increase is the rate the applicant would have received had the company…

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